The lifeless bodies of many young people – all between 18 and 20 years old – were found in a pub in South Africa over the weekend. They had no open wounds. Was adulterated alcohol involved? The ghastly find raises questions.
A body is being taken away from a nightclub in South Africa for examination on Sunday (26 June). The death of many young people is a mystery to the emergency services.
so. / (dpa) At least 22 people have died from unexplained causes in a pub in the South African city of East London. The incident was reported in the early hours of Sunday morning and the police had launched a forensic investigation, Eastern Cape Province Police Commissioner Nomthetheleli Mene told public broadcaster SABC.
The police initially did not want to give more details about the cause of the incident. According to initial reports from emergency services, there was a crowd in the small tavern; later, a security official told AFP news agency that they ruled out that the young people – they were all between 18 and 20 years old – had been trampled to death because they showed no external injuries. The young people are said to have celebrated the end of a series of trials.
Some eyewitnesses suspected poisoning of the pub visitors. «22 bodies were found on the ground. No open wounds, no nothing. We don’t know if they were poisoned or if something else happened,” said provincial transport ministry spokeswoman Unathi Bingose.
Oscar Mabuyane, the head of government for the Eastern Cape province where the tragedy occurred, did not give possible reasons for the deaths but condemned them according to a BBC report “unlimited alcohol consumption”. In a speech at the scene of the crime, he said: “You can’t just act like that in the middle of society and think that young people won’t experiment.”
The bodies were taken to morgues where post-mortem examinations, including toxicology tests, will determine the cause of death. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims.